Hold Me (in your beating heart)
by georgiejfan
Summary: Head and Heart Series, Part Four. Georgie survives her attack by the Text Message Killer resulting in a new set of consequences. Jason/Georgie. Sequel to In the Aftermath.
1. Chapter One

**Hold Me (in your beating heart)**  
 _Head + Heart_ series, part four  
Sequel to **In the Aftermath**

This is the fic where everything really goes AU.

 _Come raise the dead_  
 _I'm dreaming of the end_

\- Rachel Rabin, _Raise the Dead_

Chapter One

Standing outside of Kelly's Georgie blew on her hands and rubbed them together in a vain attempt to ward off the cold December air. She glanced from the shadows at the warm light spilling out of the doors from inside the diner and nearly gave into her temptation to go back inside and escape the cold, but the object in her hands kept her from giving in. Looking at the cell phone Georgie was reminded of the text message that her sister had received and what she had to do.

She just hoped she wouldn't have to do it alone.

An hour before her shift ended Georgie called Jason asking him to meet her at Kelly's but she didn't mention why, because while she suspected that she had the Text Message Killer in her sights she couldn't be certain. And she didn't want to get Jason's hopes up.

Flipping the phone open she glanced at the time and groaned in frustration. She really couldn't wait any longer, she had to get to the park. Taking a deep breath to try and quell her anxiety Georgie turned around and ran straight into the man she'd been waiting for. Relief coursed through her and she embraced him quickly before guiding him around the corner and out of sight.

"You came!" She said as a way of greeting him, her voice slightly high with a mixture of excitement and nervousness.

Jason nodded and said, "you asked me to."

"Right," Georgie replied then shaking her head she asked, "how's Emily?"

"There's still no sign she's going to wake up," Jason told her.

Emily had been attacked by the TMK at the Black and White Ball she and Nikolas hosted over a month ago, but Nikolas had apparently interrupted the attack, going after the killer during one of his rage filled blackouts. The killer eventually got away when Nikolas passed out and Emily was left in a coma. The doctors worried that she had gone too long without oxygen to her brain and had suggested that Monica and Nikolas pull her off of life support. That suggestion didn't sit well with any of her loved ones, who argued that as long as there were still signs of life they would hold out hope that she might one day wake up.

Georgie knew that Jason had been one of the people who'd been sitting with her day and night and while she hated to pull him away from his sister, she also wanted to give him the chance to help her with catching the man who'd killed Leticia and nearly killed Emily.

Georgie just had to make sure that Jason didn't kill the TMK before the police arrived.

"Why did you want to meet me?" Jason asked.

Instead of answering him verbally Georgie handed him the phone. Taking it from her he flipped it open and saw the text message. He gripped the phone tightly and looked back up at her, his face a stone mask of anger.

"Is this from him?"

"I think so," Georgie replied, watching him carefully.

Flipping the phone closed he said, "go home Georgie."

"What? No!" She protested, grabbing onto his arms when he started to walk away. "Jason, I'm going to the park and you're coming with me, but we're doing this my way."

"Your way?"

"Yes, my way. Once we know for sure that whoever sent this text to my sister is the Text Message Killer we're going to call the police," Georgie said, leaving no room for argument. "Emily deserves justice. Try and tell me that she wouldn't want it any other way," she challenged.

Bringing up Emily may have been a low blow but they both knew Georgie was right. Emily wouldn't want Jason to kill anyone for her but she would want to see her attacker arrested and sent to jail.

Relenting Jason agreed to her plan but before they left for the park he called Georgie out. "Were you going to go to the park without me?"

"Yes. This might be the only chance we get, and I'm not going to let anything happen to Maxie," she replied definitely.

"What about you? What if something had happened to you?" Georgie had no response to that and Jason shook his head. "You're not stupid Georgie, so why would you do something so stupid?"

"Wouldn't you do the same thing for Emily?" Georgie countered, unoffended by his question.

Jason knew he couldn't argue with her, if there had been anything he could have done to spare Emily he would've done it, no matter how reckless it would've been. "Just promise me one thing," Jason asked and Georgie nodded in agreement. "Promise me you'll be careful."

* * *

Even though she knew Jason was hiding somewhere in the shadows Georgie couldn't shake her unease. What had she been thinking? Would she really have come here by herself to meet a killer? A shudder coursed through her body, but it wasn't a result of the cold. No it was the realization that Jason had been right, coming here alone would've been so, so stupid. It was an unnecessary risk that she couldn't afford to take. But she wasn't alone, she reminded herself, and tried to take solace in Jason's nearly invisible presence.

Looking down at the phone one more time she was worried that whoever it was that had arranged to meet her wasn't going to show up. Either he got cold feet or he'd spotted Jason and abandoned the plan. But Georgie wasn't about to give up yet. She had nearly done that once already that night and almost came here alone. She couldn't afford to make two risky mistakes in one night.

So she waited.

Her thoughts strayed to Emily and to the night of the ball. The young doctor had been so happy when Nikolas announced their engagement that it's hard to believe that a few short hours later she was left for dead. How could life be that cruel? She wondered. Her imagination then replaced the other woman's image with one of her sister and the picture that created in her head made her realize that it could've been worse, Emily might have died, separating her from everyone who loved her forever.

Hearing heavy footsteps behind her pulled her from her morbid thoughts and she turning around, she expected to see Jason, instead she saw a face she never thought she would ever see again.

Diego Alcazar.

Composing her features she tried to appear relaxed, almost happy to see him. "Thank God, it's you," she said, surprised by her own ability to get any words out of her mouth. "For a second I thought I had a stalker."

"What are you doing here, Georgie?" Diego asked, and Georgie thought she might just pass out.

Instead she said, "Isn't that something I should be asking you? I thought you were dead?"

"You shouldn't have come here, I don't want to do this to you," he said and Georgie watched as a cord dropped from his hand.

"You. It was you. You killed Leticia and you tried to kill Emily." Georgie was shocked, why would he do something like this and she asked him that very question. "Why?"

"They had to pay," was the only explanation he gave before lunging at her.

Georgie dodged out of his way, narrowly avoiding his grasp but the pair fell in the process. Scrambling to get up she felt a pair of hands wrap around her arms and looking up she caught sight of Jason who pushed her out of the way just as Diego gained his feet. Seeing Jason stopped him in his tracks and surprised by the other man's appearance he tracked back a step.

For a minute Georgie thought he might try and run, realizing that he was outnumbered, but the sadistic smile that materialized on his face dismissed that idea. "Once I'm done with you two, I'm going to finish off your sister."

The bait was enough and Jason threw himself at the younger man, despite Georgie's protests and she was left to watch as they scuffled on the ground. The sound of metal skidding and scraping over stone drew her attention and she caught sight of a gun sliding away from the pair. Glancing at them then back at the weapon Georgie made a calculated decision and made a mad dash for the gun.

Picking it up she turned to the two men on the ground and watched as Diego gained the upper hand. Straddling Jason he moved to wrap his hands around Jason's throat, to choke him, but Jason held him at bay, keeping a firm grasp on the other man's hands. But Diego dug his knees into Jason side, putting pressure on his ribs. Georgie called out to him, telling him to stop, and pointing the gun in his direction but Diego only turned and looked at her and then at the gun.

"You're not going to shoot me, you don't have it in you," he said with a knowing certainty.

"Are you sure about that?" Because while she didn't want to hurt Diego, when it came to Jason Georgie wasn't sure what she wouldn't do for him and to protect him.

And there must have been something about the look in her eye that made Diego rethink his assumption because he left Jason on the ground and stood up quickly, coming toward her with a murderous look in his eye. Backing up Georgie warned him to stop but he didn't listen. She could see Jason getting up behind him but Diego was moving too quickly and she realized that he was challenging her. Daring her to kill him because if he managed to get the gun away from her there was no doubt in her mind that he would kill her.

In reality it all happened in a matter of seconds, but for Georgie time seemed to slow to a snail's pace and she was able to see what was about to happen and knowing that she didn't have any other choice she raised the gun and pulled the trigger.

Time sped back up again and Georgie watched in horror as the bullet struck Diego, sending him reeling backward, falling to the ground, blood pouring from his chest.

Shaking violently Georgie was vaguely aware of Jason moving to Diego's side and checking for a pulse, he looked back up at her and said something but she couldn't hear him through the high pitched ringing in her ears. Realizing that Georgie couldn't hear him he shook his head letting her know that he was dead.

Diego was dead.

She'd killed him.

Standing, frozen in place, Georgie stared at Diego's body through a sheen of tears. It was only when Jason moved to take the gun from her that she finally reacted. Holding the weapon away from him she protested and warned him not to touch it. "Is this your gun?" she asked.

"No," Jason said shaking his head as he pulled back his jacket and revealed his chrome piece.

"Then you can't touch it, they can't find your fingerprints on it." It was then that they heard the sound of sirens blaring in the distance and coming closer. "Go," Georgie commanded.

"What?"

"You have to go, now!" She repeated. "They can't find you here, if they do you know that they'll try and pin this on you."

"Georgie I can't just leave you here," Jason argued.

"Yes, yes you can," she replied. "Jason, I shot him. I was the one that killed him, but won't matter if they catch you here. You know that Ric and Scott will do everything they can to say that you did this. But you didn't, that's why you have to go."

"Georgie..." Jason trailed off, silently pleading with her to reconsider.

"Go, please," she begged. "No one can ever know you were here. Go!"

The sirens were even closer and giving her one last look, letting her know that leaving her was the last thing he wanted to do, Jason reluctantly left the area. She watched as he glanced back only once before disappearing into the darkness just as she heard pounding footsteps arrive behind her.

"Put the gun on the ground!" An authoritative voice behind her commanded. "Put your hands behind your head and get down on your knees."

* * *

Yes, Emily is alive in my universe. Honestly I never understood the logic of killing Emily off only to bring Natalia Livingston back as her twin sister, especially only for a year. Besides that I hated the fact that the writers killed off two Quartermaine's in one year, you can't just do that to a legacy family.


	2. Chapter Two

**Hold Me (in your beating heart)**  
 _Heart + Heart_ series, part four  
Sequel to **In the Aftermath**

Chapter Two

 _What have I done?_

The thought repeated itself over and over again as she remained hunched over his body, her hands pressed to the gaping, bleeding hole in his chest as she desperately tried to stem the flow of blood. But it wasn't working, his blood kept coming, covering her hands, rising around up her, soaking her legs, her knees.

 _Please somebody, help me._

But her desperate plea went unanswered and she felt him grow cold.

Suddenly a bloodied hand wrapped around her wrist and her head snapped up. She watched as Diego's eyes opened suddenly and stare right at her as he asked her the same thing she'd asked him the night she killed him.

 _Why?_

Gasping awake Georgie, who was curled up on her side, drew her knees tightly to her chest as she held back a scream, not wanting to wake Maxie. Her sister had taken to sleeping in the same bed as her since that night, both to reassure herself that Georgie was alive and safe and to be there for Georgie when she inevitably had a nightmare. Or rather _the_ nightmare.

She knew it was only a dream, that she'd never touched Diego and she'd never had his blood on her hands, but it all felt real enough and fed the well of guilt building inside her.

Feeling the pillow beneath her head grow damp Georgie wiped at her eyes and took a deep breath. Once she was sure she had some semblance of control over her emotions she turned onto her back and let out with a squeal of surprise.

Maxie was sitting seiza on the bed next to her and watching her.

"What the hell Maxie!" Georgie exclaimed, quickly sitting up.

"Morning," Maxie greeted her, a serious look on her face.

"Were you watching me sleep?" Georgie asked suspiciously once she had a minute to recover from the early morning shock.

"Yes," Maxie replied nonchalantly before adding, "it's not creepy."

"How long were you watching me sleep?" Georgie challenged, an eyebrow raised.

Maxie paused and looked away. Pursing her lips she thought about her answer and then admitted maybe she'd been watching her long enough for it to be a little creepy. Her older sister then shrugged her shoulders and said, "I'm not going apologize."

Groaning Georgie threw back the covers and reached for her robe. "You're not going to apologize for being a total creep?"

"No, because I didn't do it intentionally," Maxie said. "I'm just worried about you."

"Maxie..."

"No, enough! You haven't talked about it and I know you're having nightmares, you're barely eating, and you were crying just a minute ago. This is eating away at you and you need to talk about it. So talk to me," Maxie pleaded. "Please."

But Georgie remained steadfastly quiet. Sighing in defeat Maxie got out of the bed and made her way toward the door. One hand on the handle she turned back to Georgie and said, "If you won't talk to me about it, talk to Dad, to Robin. Call mom. Anyone. Just don't hold it inside anymore."

The sister's shared a long look before Maxie finally shook her head and started to open the door to leave, that was when Georgie stopped her. "I didn't want to kill him."

The words were said quietly, but they were enough for Maxie who shut the door and joined her sister who'd sat back down on the edge of the bed. "I know you didn't," Maxie assured her, taking one of Georgie's hands in her own. "Georgie you did what you had to do, if you didn't you might not be here. I still can't believe you were stupid enough to go to the park alone to face him," Maxie scolded her for the hundredth time since that night.

And once again Georgie was sorely tempted to tell her sister that she wasn't alone that night, that Jason had been there with her and that if it wasn't for him she probably wouldn't be here today. But she knew that she couldn't, not at this point, and she swallowed the urge and focused on what Maxie had said instead.

"I'm not so sure about that."

"About what?" Maxie asked.

"That I did what I had to do," Georgie admitted. "I keep thinking there must have been another way. I should've aimed lower, shot him in the leg, or the arm. Why did I shoot him in the chest? Why did I aim to kill?"

"Georgie, no. You've got to stop beating yourself up about this," Maxie told her. "You reacted on instinct, to protect yourself. I know you Georgie and if there had been some other way, you of all people would've found it."

"It still doesn't feel right," Georgie said after a long pause and after she'd had some time to think about Maxie's words.

"No, it probably doesn't and to be honest it would worry me even more if it did feel right," Maxie assured her. "I can't imagine that it will ever feel alright, because you're not a killer Georgie."

"That's where you're technically wrong Maxie. I am a killer because I took someone's life," Georgie argued. "If I hadn't gone to the park a week ago, Diego might still be alive."

"That's true, but I might be dead," Maxie countered bluntly. "Sam might be dead. Or Carly, or Elizabeth. They found the hit list in his pocket and if you hadn't killed him when you did anyone of us might have been strangled and murdered. Would you rather make that trade?"

"No!" Georgie was horrified by the picture that her sister was creating and knew that Maxie was trying to make a point, but Georgie wasn't a hero because she'd killed Diego, and said as much to her older sister.

"You're right and I'm not saying that you're a hero for what you did, but your actions spared all of the people on Diego's list because we would've been next and not all of us would've survived," she said and then reiterated her earlier point. "Georgie you did what you had to do."

Georgie also circled back. "I didn't go there to kill him, I didn't want to kill _Diego_ ," she repeated, emphasizing his name, her voice thick with tears.

Wrapping an arm around her sister's shoulder, Maxie gave her a tight side hug. "I know. I also know that if the Text Message Killer had turned out to be anyone else you wouldn't be beating yourself up like this," Maxie pointed out. "You wanted to save Diego, you saw something in him, you saw past everything that he had done and you forgave him. You reached out to him in prison and tried to help him. And even after he tried to help Lulu ruin your marriage you still wanted to be his friend. I don't know why and to be honest if it had been me I would've washed my hands a long time ago, but you didn't. And when you thought he died, after Sam shot him, you went to his funeral, and you mourned for him," Maxie said.

"What is your point Maxie? That I failed, because I think I got it," Georgie replied angrily.

"You didn't fail him, that's not what I'm saying at all," she replied, frustrated. "I'm saying that you did everything you could for him, that you fought harder for him than probably anyone else in his entire life. You cared about him, maybe not as much as he would've liked but you still cared and that's why you need to forgive yourself, because if you don't you'll never be able to grieve for him. And if you don't grieve for him, you'll never be able to move past this."

* * *

"Please tell me I'm wrong," Ric said after Scott Baldwin had long enough to look over the file he'd handed him. "I think in this case I'd be happy to be wrong."

Scott flipped back to the beginning of the file and took a second look at the contents and decided that it was hard not to come to the same conclusion as Lansing did. Tossing the file onto the District Attorney's desk Scott sat back in the chair and said, "you're not wrong, there's definitely probable cause, the question is what are you going to do about it?"

Standing Ric looked down at the file and groaned. Inside was the final report relating to the death of Diego Alcazar, detailing all of the evidence, the scene, and the hospital reports from Alcazar's autopsy and details from Georgianna Jones's physical examination following the incident. All in all it was damning for Ms Jones.

The phone recovered at the scene detailed messages that indicated that Georgie was attempting to lure the TMK to the park, going along with what Alcazar had suggested in an attempt to get him to meet, to draw him out into the open. Then there was the gun which Georgie had used. While the police commissioner's daughter claimed that the gun fell out of Alcazar's pocket during a struggle and that she had never seen it before, her fingerprints were the only ones on the gun. Add to it the fact that they'd traced the gun back to the Port Charles Police Department evidence locker and discovered that it was one of the weapons that had gone missing during a break in.

Then there was the medical report released by General Hospital. Georgie Jones hadn't sustained any injuries synonymous with a fight or a struggle, which added to Ric's doubt about her claim of shooting Alcazar out of self-defense.

Granted there was the cord that had been discovered at the scene which did have Alcazar's fingerprints on it and the handwritten list located in his back pocket with the names of all of his victims and potential victims which pointed to Alcazar almost certainly being the Text Message Killer. But even if that was the case, what Georgie had done was tantamount to premeditated murder. A conclusion which was hard to rectify given what he knew about her.

She was the daughter of a WSB agent and the stepdaughter to the police commissioner. Georgie was a straight A student and a volunteer in the community, she worked at Kelly's and had babysat for Kristina and Molly. That she could've committed murder, especially premeditated murder, seemed impossible. But all of the evidence suggested otherwise and he couldn't ignore it just because she seemed like a good girl. Or could he?

Scott seemed to read his mind and asked him point blank, "are you going to look the other way on this one?" Sensing Lansing's hesitation, Scott gave him a bone, albeit a bone that could get Scott his job of DA back, but a bone none the less. "I wouldn't blame you if you did."

"It's going to be a hard case to try," Ric said.

Scott nodded in agreement. "I've got to admit it, it won't be easy. Not with a reputation like hers or with the family connections," he warned.

Scott watched Lansing discreetly, hoping that he would make the right choice, or at least the right choice for Scott. The DA moved back to his desk and reached for the phone.

"What are you going to do?" Scott asked.

Dialing a number Ric looked up at the Special Prosecutor and said, "I'm going to petition for a warrant, for the arrest of Georgianna Jones."


End file.
